Earl Howe: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many primary care trusts have adopted Payment by Results in 2006-07; how many primary care trusts they expect to (a) continue adopting Payment by Results, and (b) begin to adopt Payment by Results in 2007-08; and what monitoring they will conduct to ensure that the objectives of Payment by Results are achieved.

Northern Ireland: Organised Crime

Lord Rooker: Departmental performance against government sustainable operations targets, including water consumption, has been published in annual sustainable development in government reports (STiG). The Sustainable Development Commission (SDC), the independent watchdog, published its latest SDiG report in December 2005. It covered the reporting period April 2004 to March 2005 and is available at: www.sd-commission.org.uk/watchdog.
	According to the SDC's report, seven government departments met the 2004 water consumption target. These departments were: the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; the Department for Constitutional Affairs; the Department of Health; the Inland Revenue; Her Majesty's Customs and Excise; the Department for International Development; and the Office for National Statistics.
	On 12 June 2006, the Prime Minister launched a set of intentionally challenging sustainable operational targets for the government estate. They set an example to the rest of the public sector, businesses and consumers and will catalyse efforts to improve the way the Government manage their land and buildings sustainably. The new targets relevant to water consumption are as follows. Departments are to:
	reduce water consumption by 25 per cent on the office and the non-office estate by 2020, relative to 2004-05 levels; and
	reduce water consumption to an average of 3m3 per person per year for all new office builds or major office refurbishments.

Lord Rooker: In addition to the Scouts Association and the National Federation of Women's Institutes, a total of 51 other organisations have been allocated funding for the next two financial years from the Climate Change Fund as announced by the Government in June 2006. These are as follows.
	
		
			  2006-07 (£) 2007-08 (£) Total (£) 
			 IVCA Ltd 66,140.00 72,250.00 138,390 
			 Cambridge Carbon Footprint 5,160.00 0.00 5,160 
			 National Trust 103,700.00 10,000.00 113,700 
			 Forkbeard Fantasy 25,100.00 52,598.00 77,698 
			 The National Energy Foundation (NEF) 142,000.00 153,500.00 295,500 
			 School Councils UK 80,700.00 14,700.00 95,400 
			 Global Action Plan 49,230.00 — 49,230 
			 British Association for the Advancement of Science 30,000.00 — 30,000 
			 WMnet: West Midlands Regional Broadband Consortium 75,000.00 85,000.00 160,000 
			 Forum for the Future 123,566.00 47,940.00 171,506 
			 New Economics Foundation 103,834.00 145,311.00 249,145 
			 Royal Geographical Society 29,000.00 69,750.00 98,750 
			 Yigal Allon Educational Trust 49,480.00 — 49,480 
			 Cambridge Carbon Footprint 16,284.00 17,750.00 34,034 
			 Ipswich Borough Council 44,098.00 — 44,098 
			 University of East Anglia 16,245.00 — 16,245 
			 Bolsover Drama Group — 6,850.00 6,850 
			 The Wellingborough Partnership 6,700.00 — 6,700 
			 Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Local Authorities' Energy Partnership 207,500.00 171,500.00 379,000 
			 The Friends of Finsbury Park (FoFP) 14,434.00 — 14,434 
			 Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea 18,450.00 3,550.00 22,000 
			 Greater London Authority 229,500.00 187,500.00 417,000 
			 London Borough of Bromley 30,000.00 31,000.00 61,000 
			 London Sustainability Exchange (LSx) 40,856.00 98,277.00 139,133 
			 London Borough of Sutton 73,000.00 75,750.00 148,750 
			 Langdon Beck YHA 18,300.00 — 18,300 
			 Sunderland City Council 20,500.00 15,000.00 35,500 
			 Helix Arts 40,941.00 51,931.00 92,872 
			 Sustainability Northwest 22,061.00 17,810.00 39,871 
			 Rite2no-young people's climate change project/Parklands High School 7,396.00 32,414.00 39,810 
			 Liverpool World Centre 29,210.00 38,671.00 67,881 
			 The Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Oxford 78,000.00 122,000.00 200,000 
			 The National Energy Foundation (NEF) 98,750.00 86,000.00 184,750 
			 Thames Valley Energy Centre 13,590.00 0.00 13,590 
			 Dartmoor National Park Authority 7,500.00 0.00 7,500 
			 Westden 12,700.00 16,150.00 28,850 
			 Devon Development Education 35,750.00 39,917.00 75,667 
			 Centre for Sustainable Energy 139,928.00 73,303.00 213,231 
			 Community Energy Plus 28,990.00 56,330.00 85,320 
			 Stoke on Trent City Council 50,771.00 47,949.00 98,720 
			 WMnet: West Midlands Regional Broadband Consortium 95,000.00 95,000.00 190,000 
			 Castle Vale Community Housing Association 16,100.00 0.00 16,100 
			 The Rural Media Company 40,700.00 1,300.00 42,000 
			 Winterbourne Botanic Garden 10,150.00 0.00 10,150 
			 Tide-Teachers in Development Education 27,000.00 21,250.00 48,250 
			 Big Brum Theatre in Education Company 13,355.00 — 13,355 
			 Stockholm Environment Institute 26,115.00 33,642.00 59,757 
			 Sheffield Galleries and Museums Trust 57,000.00 40,000.00 97,000 
			 
			 Calderdale Sustainability Forum Ltd. 53,266.00 44,375.00 97,641 
			 Kingston Upon Hull City Council 42,689.00 68,728.00 111,417 
			 Taleem Youth Forum 9,390.00 — 9,390 
		
	
	Including the two organisations previously referred to, a total of £4.8 million will be awarded in the financial years 2006-07 and 2007-08.

Baroness Ashton of Upholland: My department has received four letters from justices of the peace summoned for jury service about the combined commitment of being a JP and a juror. All four were received within the first year of JPs and others being eligible to serve. This does not include applications for excusal or deferral from JPs summoned for jury service. Any such applications, made to either the Jury Central Summoning Bureau or Crown Court, would be dealt with on their individual merits. In the case of a self employed magistrate, the effect of jury service on both their work and their ability to sit as a magistrate would be taken into account in coming to a decision. A circular was sent to advisory committees and sub-committees on justices of the peace on 21 March 2006 clarifying a number of points about magistrates summoned for jury service. It followed a similar circular in 2004.

Baroness Byford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What steps the Department for Trade and Industry has taken to notify employment agencies that if they place anyone within the agriculture and food processing industries that agency must have a gangmasters' licence.

Baroness Ashton of Upholland: Two members of staff are primarily employed to provide support of a non-political nature in accordance with the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers.

Government Departments: Special Advisers

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether special advisers are required to declare to the Permanent Secretary within the relevant department any other outside employment or work, paid or unpaid, that they may undertake in addition to their main duties; whether such information is published; and what plans they have for creating a register of interests for special advisers; and
	Whether, in accordance with Section 17 of the Model Contract for Special Advisers, those special advisers employed by the Prime Minister have notified their head of department of any other external employment they have undertaken in the past year; and, if so, what was the nature of any such external employment.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: The rules for civil servants, including special advisers, who wish to take up other employment in addition to their Civil Service duties are set out in Section 4.3 of the Civil Service Management Code. Such information is not normally made public. There are no plans to create a public register of interests for special advisers.

Government Departments: Special Advisers

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Bassam of Brighton on 10 July (WA 89), how many assistants currently support special advisers to Ministers in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport; and what is the nature of their services.

Lord Davies of Oldham: Special advisers have one member of staff who provides support of a non political nature in accordance with the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers.

Lord Drayson: In the Ministry of Defence letter of 5 June to the president of the Pensions Appeal Tribunal, the fourth paragraph states: "As you are aware, the Ministry of Defence welcomed the decision by the Pensions Appeal Tribunal in the case brought by Mr Martin. The Tribunal's decision accepted the use of the umbrella term Gulf War Syndrome for accepted conditions which are causally linked to service in the 1990-91-Gulf War. The Secretary of State recognised that some veterans were concerned that the link between their ill-health and their service in the Gulf had not been sufficiently acknowledged. The Tribunal's decision in Martin gave a formal means of providing such recognition and it was for that reason, not least, that the Ministry of Defence welcomed it". The then veterans' Minister, in his Written Statement of 24 November 2005 (Official Report, Commons, col. 129WS), hoped that this formal recognition would help to provide an element of closure for those who have sought this acknowledgement of their ill-health. The extract from the 5 June letter was made in the context of the earlier Ministerial Statement.
	Moreover, in the spirit of helping to provide closure and acting in good faith, the Veterans' Agency in its notification letters to Mr McGreevy went further than required by including previously accepted conditions, which were linked to his Gulf service, under the umbrella term of Gulf War syndrome. While the 5 June letter accepts that this was done in error, it nevertheless indicates the Ministry of Defence's willingness to assist in the closure process.

Baroness Amos: Our best information is that the food containers have been moved from Ashdod and are now awaiting delivery at Karni Crossing. The crossing has been open for humanitarian imports since 13 July, but had been closed for six days before that.
	In the past fortnight, the my right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary has spoken to Israeli Foreign Minister Livini and Palestinian President Abbas to try to help find a way to end the current humanitarian crisis. Our missions are working closely with both parties and the G8. The EU and the UK have issued statements in response to the crisis.

Lord Astor of Hever: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What plans there are to increase the Kosovo Peacekeeping Force presence in Kosovo to boost security during the final status talks process.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The sponsorship of the Museum of London, the Horniman Museum and Gardens and the Geffrye Museum was the subject of a similar consultation exercise in 1998, when the Greater London Authority (GLA) was in the process of being established. The result of the consultation was that it was decided not to transfer responsibility for these museums to the GLA. However, it was left open to review the matter at a later date when the GLA had been given time to develop its role and functions.
	Following the Mayor of London's recent request to take on the Government's sponsorship responsibilities for the Museum of London, it was decided that there were sufficient grounds to consult again on the general principle of the GLA also taking on responsibility the Horniman and Geffrye Museums. Any proposed changes that may emerge as a result of the consultation will be discussed with the museums in full.

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: The low carbon buildings programme provides advice to potential users of microgeneration systems through the Energy Saving Trust and the Building Research Establishment and, for large projects, through the Carbon Trust. The Carbon Trust also provides information to potential microgeneration users. The Government have also recently established a biomass energy centre as part of a response to the biomass task force.
	The Government have also funded a number of regionally/locally based organisations to provide such information, such as renewable energy advice centres, energy efficiency advice centres and community renewables initiative local support teams. There have also been organisations set up to provide advice by regional development agencies, including Renewables East and Regen SouthWest.
	The Government maintain an overview of the information needs, and quality, in this area as part of its microgeneration strategy. As part of its strategy, the DTI will undertake a review of existing activity to assess effectiveness and identify gaps. We will then assess the feasibility of a communications/information campaign.

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: There are a range of issues surrounding metering, connection to the distribution network, and balancing and settlement arrangements that could be preventing widespread take-up of electricity generating technologies.
	Changes to the Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations 2003, and subsequent amendment of the related Distribution Code of Engineering Recommendation G83/1, have allowed a more straightforward process for network connection for electricity producing microgeneration technologies below a certain size (16A per phase).
	The DTI continues to work with Ofgem, the distribution network operators, energy suppliers and the microgeneration industry to resolve difficulties—particularly through the Electricity Networks Strategy Group.

Lord Drayson: QinetiQ does not pay rent on the South Arm explosion testing facility at Rosyth. The vast majority (approximately 95 per cent) of work conducted by QinetiQ at this site is, in either direct or indirect (through prime contractors), support to Ministry of Defence programmes. As all the costs of operating this site are passed back to MoD under these contracts there is no point in charging a rent as this would in effect become "circular money".

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When the business case for (a) Rally Ireland; (b) The Ulster-Scots Academy; and (c) "On Eagle's Wing" musical were first requested; when they were received in final form; and when they were accepted.

Lord Rooker: The business cases were reviewed as follows:
	The Northern Ireland Events Company commissioned a business case for Rally Ireland in May 2005. The Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) received the final version of the business case on 4 January 2006 and it was accepted by DCAL and the Department of Finance and Personnel on 20 January 2006.
	DCAL requested consultants to produce a business case for giving effect to the joint declaration commitment to encourage support to be made available for an Ulster-Scots academy on 22 September 2003. The final version of the business case was received by DCAL on 5 March 2004 and it received ministerial approval on 8 August 2004.
	The Ulster-Scots Agency was informed of the need for a business case, including an economic appraisal, to support any public funding for the "On Eagle's Wing" project on the 29 January 2003. The final version was submitted to DCAL economists on 27 October 2003 The business case did not demonstrate that there was a need for deficit funding, but that On Eagle's Wing Ltd required funding to avert an upfront cash-flow problem. The Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure does not have the specific statutory powers to make what would have effectively been a loan from voted funds. As a result the business case was not accepted.

Lord Astor of Hever: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Statement by the Secretary of State for Defence, Des Brown, (Official Report, col. 1140) that they "will do what any Government can to ensure that when Parliament is in recess information on a wide range of issues" will be "communicated appropriately to those who need to know", on what principles Members of the House of Lords will be selected and identified as needing to know; and what methods of communication will be used.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The White Paper, Security in Retirement: Towards a new pensions system, set out a package of reforms aimed at increasing the number of people entitled to a state pension and the amount to which they would be entitled.
	A key element in the package is to reduce the number of qualifying years for a full basic state pension to 30 for both men and women (from 44 for men and 39 for women now) reaching state pension age from 2010.
	The reduction in qualifying years to 30 will mean around 125,000, or around 70 per cent of women reaching state pension age in 2010 are expected to achieve full entitlement—compared to around 50 per cent in 2010 without reform (Government Actuary Department's retirement pension model). The majority of those remaining are expected to achieve between about 61 to 99 per cent of a full basic state pension, with others getting up to 60 per cent full entitlement based on their own records, whereas without reform they may have got nothing. The information requested is in the tables below. The estimates are approximate and reflect the inevitable uncertainty associated with any future projection.
	
		
			 Table 1: Number and percentage of men and women who are estimated to qualify for full basic state pension if the number of qualifying years required for full basic state pension were reduced to 25 and costs 
		
		
			  Men of pensionable age Women of pensionable age Men reaching state pension age Women reaching state pension age Gross £m Net £m 
			 2010 3,900,000 (85 per cent to 90 per cent) 3,600,000 (around 50 per cent) 305,000 (over 95 per cent) 140,000 (around 80 per cent) 50 40 
			 2020 5,200,000 (90 per cent to 95 per cent) 4,300,000 (around 65 per cent) 310,000 (over 95 per cent) 320,000 (around 90 per cent) 670 520 
			 2030 6,400,000 (around 95 per cent) 6,800,000 (around 85 per cent) 385,000 (around 95 per cent) 405,000 (around 95 per cent) 1,590 1,,240 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Number and percentage of men and women who are estimated to qualify for full basic state pension if the number of qualifying years required for full basic state pension were reduced to 20 and costs 
		
		
			  Men of pensionable age Women of pensionable age Men reaching state pension age Women reaching state pension age Gross £m Net £m 
			 2010 3,900,000 (85 per cent to 90 per cent) 3,600,000 (around 50 per cent) 310,000 (over 95 per cent) 150,000 (around 85 per cent) 60 50 
			 2020 5,200,000 (90 per cent to 95 per cent) 4,400,000 (around 65 per cent) 315,000 (over 95 per cent) 325,000 (around 95 per cent) 760 590 
			 2030 6,500,000 (around 95 per cent) 6,900,000 (around 85 per cent) 390,000 (around 95 per cent) 410,000 (around 95 per cent) 1,760 1,370 
			 Notes to Tables 1 and 2: 
			 1. Source: Estimates from the Government Actuary's Department's retirement pension model 
			 2. Estimates are based on reducing qualifying years required for full basic state pension to 25 in table 1 and 20 in table 2, for people reaching state pension age from 2010. 
			 3. Numbers of people of pensionable age are rounded to the nearest 100,000. 
			 4. Numbers of people reaching pension age are rounded to the nearest 5,000. 
			 5. The number of women reaching state pension age in 2010 takes into account state pension age equalisation, which means that only half of the women who are projected to reach age 60 in 2010 actually reach state pension age in 2010. 
			 6. Costs are presented in 2006 prices and rounded to the nearest £10 million. 
			 7. Costs are expressed as additional expenditure over and above expenditure on the current system without any reform. 
			 8. No other policy changes have been modelled in producing these estimates other than the reduction in qualifying years to 25 in table 1 and 20 years in table 2. 
			 9. Net costs are net of income related benefits. They have been estimated by DWP using offsets generated by the policy simulation model. 
			 10. Estimates are for Great Britain only.

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: The Question the noble Lord has asked relates to operational matters for which Post Office Ltd is directly responsible. Post Office Ltd has provided the following figures relating to the number of post office closures.
	
		
			 Details to end financial year Closures in Year   
			  Total Urban Rural 
			 March 2000-01 547 106 441 
			 March 2001-02 262 68 194 
			 March 2002-03 345 230 115 
			 March 2003-04 1,278 1,129 149 
			 March 2004-05 1,352 1,208 144 
			 March 2005-06 233 84 149

Lord Harrison: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What steps they will take to promote shareholders' rights and democracy within the European Union, in particular the principle of one share, one vote; and what further steps they will take to protect non-resident shareholders who hold European equity in a member state in which they are not resident.

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: The European Commission has consulted on the possibility of action on shareholder democracy in its current review of its May 2003 company law and corporate governance action plan. The Government have supported the proposal for a full study into the issue of one share one vote.

Lord Rooker: We are unable to give a value to the timber imports identified as illegally felled that enter the UK as timber imports are not identified as legal or illegal at ports of entry.
	The UK Government take the trade in illegally felled timber very seriously and are taking a range of actions to address it. The EU Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Regulation adopted last year enables member states to enter into partnership agreements with developing countries and provide them with assistance to tackle illegal logging. This assistance will include a licensing system designed to identify products as legal and license them for export to the EU. It will be reinforced by powers for HM Customs to take a range of actions relating to unlicensed products from partner countries; this will allow member states to prohibit the import of illegal timber from those countries into the EU for the first time.
	The UK Government recognise that government purchasing policies can also send a strong signal to the market and timber suppliers. Since 2000, the UK Government have committed central departments to seek to procure products made from timber that has been legally harvested and grown in a sustainably managed forest or plantation.
	At the international level, the UK is also working with other major timber consuming countries. Most recently, this has included following up G8 commitments to tackle illegal logging made at the G8 environment and development ministerial in 2005, and establishing a joint working group on forestry with China.

Lord Rooker: According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (2005) statistics, global deforestation, mainly due to conversion of forests to agricultural land, continues at a rate of 13 million hectares per year. At the same time, forest planting and natural expansion of forests have reduced the net loss of forest area. The net global change in forest area in the period 2000-2005 is estimated at -7.3 million hectares per year (an area about the size of Panama or Sierra Leone), down from -8.9 million hectares per year in the period 1990-2000.
	Estimates from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) suggest that tropical deforestation is currently responsible for about 20 per cent of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions. Only approximately one twentieth of this is offset by reforestation in temperate regions. Tropical forests act as a significant carbon sink, helping to limit the rate of rise of atmospheric carbon dioxide to less than 50 per cent of the rate of emissions. Removal of rainforests weakens this buffering and exposes us more to the effect of our emissions. An accelerated rise of carbon dioxide from both an increased source and a weakened sink implies an accelerated rate of global warming.
	Rainforest destruction also affects climate through changes in other greenhouse gases, organic soot particles and through processes such as water recycling, which have local and global impacts. For example, rainforest loss can increase the concentration of ozone, another greenhouse gas.
	Aerosols are released by burning forests and can modify temperature and local rainfall regimes. Rainforests recycle rain water back to the atmosphere, which maintains their own moist climate and also affects neighbouring regions; deforestation can modify atmospheric circulation and rainfall across the globe.

Lord Blaker: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Statement by the noble Lord, Lord Triesman, on 13 July (WS 52), on what alternative livelihoods Pillar 6 in the national drugs control strategy of Afghanistan, supported by Department for International Development funding is to be focused.

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: The Government have taken the current assisted areas map (2000-06) as the baseline for developing the new map. They propose the following indicators to prioritise areas to receive assisted areas status:
	employment rate;
	adult skills at level 2 and above;
	incapacity benefit claimants;
	manufacturing share of employment.
	Further detail on the proposed designation of assisted areas, including the draft assisted areas map (2007-13), can be found in the DTI document Review of Assisted Areas—Stage 2—The Government's Response and Draft Assisted Areas Map and accompanying documents, available on the DTI website: www.dti.gov.uk/regional/assisted-areas/assisted-areas-review/page24618.html and the Libraries of the House.

Lord Triesman: It has traditionally been our practice in consular sections overseas to accept only British nationality applications made on the relevant application form. However, the Nationality Directorate of the Home Office has informed us recently that, although they prefer applicants to use the appropriate form, there is no requirement to do so provided that the applicant has provided all the necessary information on which a decision is based.

Baroness Amos: DfID's representative in Helmand is based in the provincial reconstruction team (PRT) in Lashkar Gah, Helmand province. The PRT also contains representatives from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the military and, arriving shortly, the British Embassy drugs team. These four representatives work together as the Helmand executive group, which is responsible for the delivery of the UK joint plan for Helmand.
	DfID leads in advising the civilian and military members of the Helmand PRT on the development implications of all interventions in the province. For example, the PRT supports a number of quick impact projects (QIPs) designed to demonstrate immediate progress to the people of the province and to help build a platform for longer-term activity. DfID's advice helps maximise the developmental impact of these projects and ensures that they fit with national government priorities. The Helmand executive group jointly supervises identification, selection, implementation and monitoring of QIPs, which is funded from a range of departmental budgets.
	In June, DfID increased the funding available for QIPs by £3 million, but the advisory role of the DfID representative remains the same.

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: The Low Carbon Buildings Programme is providing £80 million to reduce upfront capital costs for a range of microgeneration technologies, building on the support already provided under the PV Major Demonstration Programme and the Clear Skies Initiative. Uptake of the grants offered to date indicates that the level of support has given sufficient incentive to those considering investing in microgeneration for their premises.
	The DTI commissioned a study from the Energy Saving Trust, published in November 2005, to predict the future uptake, costs and benefits of microgeneration technologies. The study demonstrated that some microgeneration technologies are currently cost-effective but are still not being taken up, indicating that cost is not the only factor that investors consider when installing microgeneration technologies.
	The Government are working, with Ofgem and with industry, through their microgeneration strategy, to create conditions under which microgeneration becomes a realistic alternative, or supplementary energy generation source for the householder, for the community and for small businesses.

Rainforests

Baroness Amos: We have a range of opportunities to discuss the protection of the rights and interests of people living in rainforests, with the World Bank and others.
	DfID supports the global partnership for rights and resources with a grant of £300,000. This is a new informal coalition of organisations dedicated to protecting the rights and interests of rainforest-dependent people. It provides a platform for engagement with Governments, other donors, local and international NGOs and research organisations.
	DfID is providing £24 million to support the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) programme, which will support multi-stakeholder processes that will involve rainforest-dependent people in the development and implementation of trade and governance agreements between the EU and timber-producing countries.
	In addition to those global initiatives, DfID supports numerous bilateral initiatives to support the rights and interests of rainforest-dependent people. Examples of DfID-funded bilateral initiatives include:
	the multistakeholder forestry programme in Indonesia, where DfID is working with civil society groups and the World Bank on the resource rights of forest-dependent communities.
	In Cameroon, DfID is working together with the World Bank, providing targeted budget support alongside the World Bank's International Development Association and the Global Environmental Facility contributions.
	In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), DfID supports the Rainforest Foundation to pilot participatory forest mapping and zoning, aiming to secure the rights and interests of rainforest-dependent people.

Rainforests

Baroness Amos: Decisions taken by the World Bank which affect logging operations in rainforests have to conform to its policy on forests that was adopted in 2003. This states that the World Bank will only finance commercial harvesting in areas where strict environmental assessments or authoritative scientific surveys have demonstrated that the areas in question do not contain critical forest areas or other critical natural habitats.
	HMG co-operates with the World Bank on a number of country programmes aimed at improving forest governance. These include Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Cameroon, and Cambodia.
	The expected impacts of the above programmes include the empowerment of forest-dependent communities, enhanced economic opportunities for the poor and indigenous groups, increased revenues for the state, and improved conservation of biodiversity.
	In Cameroon, HMG/DfID has committed £11 million for the Cameroon Forest Governance Programme. Commitments in support of the forest sector in the DRC and Cambodia are still being finalised.
	There is a growing consensus that the traditional concession-based industrial logging model does not generate the desired economic, social and environmental benefits. DfID, together with the World Bank and a number of civil society and research organisations, is planning to support research into improved models for forest sector development.

Baroness Amos: The UK pledged £75 million for the immediate humanitarian relief effort following the tsunami.
	The breakdown of commitment and spend to date by country is set out in the table below. Most of DfID's support to the United Nations was for regional activities, allowing the United Nations to channel the funds to where they were most needed. The regional commitment includes up to £7.5 million for disaster risk reduction (DRR) activities.
	
		
			 £ (millions) Regionally (inc DRR) Sri Lanka India Indonesia Somalia Maldives 
			 Committed £50.6 million £4.8 million £2.77million £16.47million £0.5million £1million 
			 Spent £40.4million £4.5million £2.6million £16.47million £0.5million £1million 
		
	
	DfID allocated £65 million to meet reconstruction needs in the tsunami-affected countries. From this allocation, £35.1 million has been committed to the multi-donor trust fund in Indonesia, of which £6 million has so far been paid out. A further £5 million has been committed for technical assistance in Indonesia to help ensure timely, accountable and equitable provision of reconstruction assistance and rebuilding of livelihoods.
	Moreover, £10 million has been provided to the UN development programme to support its programme of reconstruction and restoring livelihoods, half of which has been spent, and £6 million has been allocated to strengthening governance, promoting growth and improving service delivery in some of the poorest districts of Aceh. And £3 million has been allocated to the Decentralisation Support Facility for local governance initiatives, plus a further £1 million for financial management and procurement activities in support of the Government's tendering processes.
	A total of £2 million has been committed to Sri Lanka to help speed up implementation of reconstruction programmes and to ensure equitable distribution of assistance, and £1.5 million of this has been allocated to the North East Provincial Council to increase its capacity to deliver services to affected communities. A total of £3 million has been committed to India to provide technical assistance aimed at ensuring effective, transparent and equitable programming of tsunami reconstruction efforts. The use of the balance will depend on evidence of where this funding can be most appropriately used.

Lord Rooker: Ofwat is the economic regulator for the water and sewerage industry in England and Wales. It collects information on companies' financial expenditure and publishes this information annually in its report "Financial performance and expenditure of the water companies in England and Wales".
	The table below shows expenditure on water infrastructure from the earliest year that figures are available (inflated to 2004-05 prices). This expenditure is for the water service only.
	
		
			 Year Capital expenditure on water infrastructure (millions of pounds) 
			 1974-75 780 
			 1975-76 861 
			 1976-77 858 
			 1977-78 766 
			 1978-79 755 
			 1979-80 678 
			 1980-81 638 
			 1981-82 577 
			 1982-83 576 
			 1983-84 711 
			 1984-85 599 
			 1985-86 632 
			 1986-87 700 
			 1987-88 820 
			 1988-89 645 
			 1989-90 1,046 
			 1990-91 1,701 
			 1991-92 2,176 
			 1992-93 2,185 
			 1993-94 2,086 
			 1994-95 1,667 
			 1995-96 1,609 
			 1996-97 1,986 
			 1997-98 2,046 
			 1998-99 1,824 
			 1999-2000 1,762 
			 2000-01 1,323 
			 2001-02 1,585 
			 2002-03 1,792 
			 2003-04 1,696 
			 2004-05 1,617 
			 Data Source: 1974/75 to 1989-90 Water Authorities Association "Waterfacts" 
			 1989/90 to 2004/05 Ofwat reports

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The information is not available in the format requested.
	The White Paper Security in retirement: towards a new pensions system (Cm 6841) includes proposals to ensure more carers are able to build up better state pensions. To do this we are proposing to introduce a new carer's credit for those reaching state pension age from 2010. It would be available for relevant weeks of caring within a tax year allowing a person to build entitlement to basic state pension (BSP) and state second pension (S2P) if they are caring: for 20 hours or more a week; and for one or more persons receiving the middle or highest rate of disability living allowance care component, attendance allowance, or constant attendance allowance.
	We have proposed to link the new carer's credit to those caring for someone in receipt of specified disability benefits. We estimate that around 70,000 people a year could gain a credit for BSP from this proposal, and over half of these will be women. The new credit should also mean around 110,000 more women and 50,000 more men will be accruing entitlement to S2P.
	We estimate that this may leave around 60,000 people in 2010 who report themselves to be caring for 20 hours or more who may not be accruing BSP through paid contributions or credits, including the new carer's credit. The equivalent figure for S2P is around 180,000 people. It is not possible to break down these figures further by the individual benefits received by the person being cared for.
	The potential costs of awarding these extra people a credit for BSP and S2P build up slowly over time. They could reach some £200 million in 2030, over and above expenditure on the current system.
	With existing data sources, it is difficult reliably to estimate the intensity of care that someone in receipt of a disability benefit such as incapacity benefit or the disability premium in income support, may be receiving from a particular carer. It is also unclear what care needs, if any, those in receipt of these benefits might have.
	For the purposes of estimating the cost of the new carer's credit in the White Paper, it was assumed that all those in receipt of the middle or higher rate care component of AA/DLA, or CAA, would have a carer providing more than 20 hours' care per week. Although this is not a precondition for the receipt of those benefits, entitlement provides a clear indication that the recipient has a significant level of care needs.
	As with any reform, the timing of change to the state pension system involves striking a balance: to achieve fair outcomes for tomorrow's pensioners, while ensuring that the transition from the current arrangements is affordable, avoids complexity and is delivered successfully. Backdating the carers credit to make it available on the basis of self certification for past periods of caring activity would not be feasible; to do so would be intrusive and forfeit any checks and balances in the scheme.
	It is not possible to make accurate estimates. However, assuming that all those eligible for the proposed carer's credit from 2010 were automatically awarded five years-worth of backdated credits, costs of the new carer's credit could reach around £200 million, over and above expenditure on the current system in 2030.
	Notes:
	1. Source: Family Resources Survey 2003-04 and 2004-05, with DWP forecasting assumptions for population changes. Costs: DWP estimates, 2006 prices.
	2. Numbers of people are rounded to the nearest 10,000. Estimated costs are rounded to the nearest £100 million.
	3. Costs presented refer to the estimated additional expenditure required over and above estimated expenditure on the White Paper reform proposal. They are net of offsetting savings in expenditure on income-related benefits.
	4. Costs presented are likely to be overestimates, since they assume that all people eligible for the carer's credit need to use this credit to enhance their state pension record. However for BSP, there has been an adjustment made for the reduction of qualifying years.

Lord Dykes: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Why they were unable to support the proposal of the Government of France at the G8 summit in St. Petersburg that Israel should agree to an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon at the same time as Hamas and Hezbollah stop their actions.

Lord Triesman: As my right honourable friend the Prime Minister said during his press conference with the UN Secretary-General on 17 July in St. Petersburg:
	"It is obviously a very critical situation and the most immediate priority is to create the conditions in which a cessation of violence can happen. But this is a very, very serious situation indeed and it is going to be vital that we use every single effort that we possibly can to make sure over the next few days that we put in place those conditions that can actually allow us to have that cessation of violence".

Lord Eden of Winton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What percentage of tropical timber imported into the United Kingdom comes from legally-felled sources; what methods they use to verify this; and what is the total value of the imports.

Lord Rooker: Both the percentage of legally-felled timber entering UK ports and its value are unknown because there is no verification at port of entry.